Whether we’re talking about Personal Brand Storytelling or Business Storytelling, your Story needs to be bigger than you.

What does that mean exactly?

Before I give you the wrong impression, let me be clear that Brand Storytelling is not fiction; it is not for entertainment purposes; it is not an embellishment of the truth.

Storytelling 101

Many times when I’m giving ‘Storytelling 101’ type presentations I’ll talk about the Hero’s Journey as a Story Structure. Whether or not you’re familiar with the term, you know the Hero’s Journey Structure.

Are you a Star Wars fan? The plot of every Star Wars episode and most of the books, movies, mythology you love has followed the Hero’s Journey.

If I were to sum it up in one sentence, I’d say: There’s a Hero who has a purpose, that’s on an adventure and runs into crisis but has the help of a mentor to eventually achieve their goals and complete their journey.

Who’s Your Hero?

One point I have to stress when I’m talking about the Hero’s Journey is that:

You cannot be the Hero of your own story.

Think about the last time you were at a party and you were trapped in the “conversation” with that person that spent the entire time talking about themselves. Your brain stops listening and starts thinking about how you’re going to move on to the next situation.

If you are the hero of your own story, your story won’t resonate with your audience. You’ll be just like that person that does nothing but talk about themselves.

Be Your Ideal Client’s Yoda

As a human being, I don’t want to hear you talk about yourself. As your client, I want to hear you talk about how you’re going to solve my problems. As you craft your Brand Story, you need to play the mentor character in the Hero’s Journey. You need to be your client’s Yoda.

Talk about their pains. Your goal needs to be to tell a Story that resonates so powerfully with your Ideal Client they feel compelled to share it. Solving your audience’s problems will resonate with them.

It Takes A Village

Many of my clients have a goal of creating engagement and building a community online. If this is your goal, your story must be bigger than you. It has to be as big as the community you’re trying to create.

Your story has to be about the community you’re building. Your story has to be about why you’re building the community. It has to be for the community; in the language of the community.

If you want to build that community, that engagement, your story has to about something besides you. It has to be bigger than your brand or your organization.

Faberge Organic Shampoo

Are you old enough to remember this Faberge Shampoo commercial from the 1980’s? It went something like this:

“When I first tried Faberge Organic Shampoo with pure wheat germ oil and honey, it was so good I told two friends about it and they told two friends about it and they told two friends and so on and so on and so on … “

That’s your goal.

If your Storytelling is bigger than you. If it resonates so powerfully with your audience that they feel compelled to share it, they’ll tell two friends and they’ll tell two friends and so on and so on and so on.